Keepers Son Dies At 102

Alton Relue Sweet, who was born at California’s Ballast Point Lighthouse on April 15, 1906 where his father James Sweet was the lighthouse keeper, has passed away. He was born just three days before the famous San Francisco earthquake. In later years he joined the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II. The once beautiful Ballast Point Lighthouse is no longer standing.

Correction

In the Keeper’s Korner of the June issue we mentioned that Wisconsin’s Pottawatomie Lighthouse is located on Washington Island. This is incorrect. It is located on Rock Island. You must take a passenger ferry (no cars allowed) from Washington Island to Rock Island, to get to the lighthouse. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Famous Buoy

While we all know about our famous lighthouses, however very few of us know about the "Francis Scott Key Buoy" that is placed in the waters at the site where Francis Scott Key saw the flag still flying after the bombardment of Fort McHenry. Seeing the flag still flying, Key penned the words to the Star Spangled Banner, which many years later officially became the United States National Anthem. The buoy was first placed at the site in 1914. It later became a seasonal buoy and is placed in the water every spring and taken out at the end of the buoy season.

First Light Gets New Dome Roof

The old Pencarrow Lighthouse, which was New Zealand’s first permanent lighthouse has received its first ever restoration of the dome of the lantern room since the lighthouse was first lit on New Year’s Day in 1859. That speaks very highly of the workmanship of those that built the lighthouse so many years ago. Mary Bennet was the first lighthouse keeper to serve at the lighthouse and she was the only woman to have served as a lighthouse keeper in New Zealand’s history.

Kids Honored

At the annual Awards Ceremony of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, the Lighthouse Kids received a 2008 Preservation Alliance Achievement Award for outstanding education, advocacy and restoration of White Island Lighthouse, which is also known as Isles of Shoals Lighthouse. They are to be congratulated.

County To Buy Lighthouse

Michigan’s Emment County Board of Commissioners has voted six to one to purchase the privately owned McGulpin Point Lighthouse on the Straits of Mackinac on Lake Michigan.

McGulpin Point Lighthouse was built in 1869 and served until 1906 when it was decommissioned when the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse replaced it. Sometime after that its lantern room was removed and the building was sold at auction and has remained in private ownership ever since.

The purchase by the county includes a nearly 10-acre lot and 300 feet of lake frontage.

The county hopes to partner with a historical society so the lighthouse can be used for historical and educational purposes. Hopefully they will also reinstall a lantern room.

The Emment County Board of Commissioners are to be commended for taking this bold step in now saving a historic lighthouse for the benefit of the public.

Passing

A former Coast Guard lighthouse keeper, Gilbert A Rhoades passed away this past May in the Seattle, Washington area. Born in 1935, Rhoades served on a number of Coast Guard vessels as well as being a lighthouse keeper on White Shoals Lighthouse on Lake Michigan.

Charlevoix Book

A new book titled, "Charlevoix Pier Lights," that follows the purchase of the Charlevoix South Pier Light in Michigan is available for $10.00 plus $4.00 for shipping and handling is available from the Charlevoix Historical Society, P.O. Box 525, Charlevoix, MI 49720.

Tribes to Get Lighthouse

It will take an Act of Congress to have the ownership of Oregon’s Cape Arago Island Lighthouse transferred to the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. It seems that the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 only allows for the transfer of ownership to occur to other government agencies or non profits, a category the tribes do not fall into to. To overcome this road-block, Oregon’s Congressional delegation has introduced a bill in Congress that would allow for the transfer. However, the bill still needs to be passed and signed by the President.

The Last of His Kind

The last Vietnam veteran still on active duty in the United States Coast Guard, Senior Chief Petty Officer Donald Swanger, 58, is retiring. We wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Alton Relue Sweet, who was born at California’s Ballast Point Lighthouse on April 15, 1906 where his father James Sweet was the lighthouse keeper, has passed away. He was born just three days before the famous San Francisco earthquake. In later years he joined the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II. The once beautiful Ballast Point Lighthouse is no longer standing.

Correction

In the Keeper’s Korner of the June issue we mentioned that Wisconsin’s Pottawatomie Lighthouse is located on Washington Island. This is incorrect. It is located on Rock Island. You must take a passenger ferry (no cars allowed) from Washington Island to Rock Island, to get to the lighthouse. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

This story appeared in the August 2008 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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